Kumar Gunaratnam to be freed today

Leader of the Front line Socialist Party Premkumar Gunaratnam alias Kumar Mahattaya is expected to be freed at 12 noon today from the Kegalle Prison, where he served a sentence of one year for violating immigration regulations.

He would not be deported to Australia as speculated by political circles, the government told Parliament yesterday.

"Gunaratnam has asked for visa extension and we hope it will be granted," Propaganda Secretary of the FSLP Pubudu Jagoda told The Island. At a meeting attended by Wayamba Development Cultural affairs and Immigration and Emigration Minister S B Navinna and Controller of Immigration and Emigration, the FSP was told Gunaratnam would be given a visa for three months, party sources said.

Minister Navinna earlier in the day told Parliament that a FSP delegation had met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe seeking the release of their leader.

Arrested at his ancestral house in Kegalle on Nov. 04, last year, Gunaratnam was imprisoned on March 24, this year. The term was for one year and his term was to expire on December 09, this year. The year had been counted leaving Sundays and public holidays, party sources said.

During his stay Gunaratnam met 33 persons including his family members, supporters and party members. He read extensively and conducted English classes for fellow inmates and was very popular among prisoners as well as officials, sources said.

Gunaratnam arrived in Sri Lanka on Jan. 01, 2015 using an Australian Passport (N 1016123) bearing the name, Noel Mudalige.  He had been granted a visa till Jan. 30, 2015 but did not leave the country. He did not make public appearances. His name has been included in the FSP’s national list accepted by the Elections Commissioner for the August 17 general election. Gunaratnam’s name has been listed along with his real NIC No 653231890 V.

Born in Kegalle on 18.11.1965 to a Sinhalese mother and a Tamil father, Gunaratnam played a major role behind the scene in JVP revival in the aftermath of its top leaders being wiped out during anti-insurgent crackdown by the then UNP government in the 1987-90 period.

He was educated at St. Mary’s College, Kegalle, and Pinnawala Central College, Rambukkana. He entered the University of Peradeniya Faculty of Engineering and became a student leader. He did not complete his degree and married a doctor, Champa Somaratna. His family is currently resident in Australia.

Gunaratnam arrived in Sri Lanka on Sept. 4, 2011 using his Australian passport and engaged in clandestine JVP operations until the party faced a split paving the way for the creation of FSP.

He claimed he had been abducted by a group who came in a white van from a house at No: 291, Gemunu Mawatha, Kiribathgoda on April 06, 2012 and dumped near the Colombo Crime Division head office at Dematagoda in the early hours of April 09, 2012. The Australian High Commission intervened to secure his release. Then Australian High Commissioner, Robyn Mudie, met top defence officials after Gunaratnam’s wife Champa had requested the Australian government to intervene on behalf of her husband. The following day, he was deported to Australia, where Gunaratnam alleged that he had been abducted, interrogated and tortured by men attached to the state intelligence agencies.

Gunaratnam was one of the first to reveal to the country that Presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena and the JVP had struck a deal prior to the Jan. 8 polls. He made the revelation in an exclusive interview with The Island.

The Inter University Students’ Federation now under the control of FSLP led by Gunaratnam was behind recent student agitations.

Embassy ordered to probe on Gota’s son

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington has been ordered to investigate an allegation that Rs. 27 million had been spent for a person living at the residence meant for Lankan Consul General at Los Angeles while that position was vacant.

In accordance with instructions issued by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera two top officials of the Lankan Embassy in Washington would leave for Los Angeles the following week to conduct the probe, ministry sources said.

Foreign Minister Samaraweera on Wednesday told Parliament that former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s son had occupied the residence of Lankan Consul General.

Foreign Ministry had paid over Rs 27.6 million as rent, local and foreign call charges, internet charges, water bills, satellite TV facilities, garbage disposal and security of the Consul General’s residence used by Defence Secretary’s son who was not a diplomat, Parliament was told.

JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti on Wednesday asked the government to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate those irregularities.

Thereafter, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government would appoint a PSC with special powers to probe the frauds and corruption that had taken place at the Foreign Ministry under the previous regime.  

Railway, private bus strike called off

The Railway trade unions and the Private Bus Operators Association yesterday, decided to call off their scheduled strike today following a discussion with President Maithripala Sirisena.

Railway Trade Union Collective Convenor Janaka Fernando told that they decided to call off their trade union action following a discussion with the President.

Over 60 Railway Department trade unions had decided to launch a strike over four demands. “We discussed our issues with the President yesterday evening . We decided to call off our trade union action scheduled for today,”he said.

He said that they had a meeting with Transport Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva yesterday morning “this discussion ended up without reaching to a settlement of our issues," he said. Meanwhile, the Private Bus Operators' Association has also decided not to participate in the scheduled strike today following a meeting with the President. According to a release issued by the Presidential Media Division, Private Bus Operators Association president Gemunu Wijeratne had met Presdient Maithripala Sirisena yesterday and agreed not participate in the scheduled strike action. It was revealed at the meeting that the new fine system will be effective only after making necessary amendments to the Moto Traffic Act. It also transpired that this system will be implemented after obtaining approval from the Attorney General and Parliament. The officials informed the representatives that both parties can reach an amicable settlement with regard to fine for overtaking from the left and high speed through discussions. Transport Minister Nimal siripala De Silva and Deputy Minister Ashoka Abeysinghe were also present.

Ports will not be sold: Arjuna

Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said the port’s resources will never be sold.

He added that even the Hambanthota Harbour which has become a white elephant, will not be sold.

Thre is no intension of selling the Hambantota Port eventhough it has become a huge burden to the country’s economy. “Our main intension is to find a suitable investor to lease out the Hambantota Port to commence operations. As an outcome of the Prime Minister’s recent visit to China, we have received an investment plan from a Chinese investor,” he said.

Minister Ranatunga added that whenever something good is done on behalf of the country, there is a negative reaction to this.

The Joint Opposition, which sheds crocodile tears over Hambantota Harbour, had not taken any measures to give permanency to the 482 employees of the Hambantota Harbour, during the Rajapaksa regime.

“These youth have been used for political gains. But, we did not want to make their lives more difficult. Therefore we offered them permanency in employment despite the financial crisis.

Unlike the previous rulers, we never use these youths for political gains. They are utilised for the betterment of the port sector,” the minister added.

President to call for explanation

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday assured Parliament he would call on IGP Pujith Jayasundara to explain his remarks regarding arresting persons through the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) during a speech at a Police commemorative event in Ratnapura.

Following the conclusion of President Sirisena's speech during the committee stage debate on Budget 2017, under the expenditure heads of Ministries of National Dialogue, National Integration and Reconciliation and Disaster Management, Joint Opposition MP Wimalaweera Dissanayake got up and demanded to know from the government as to how the IGP had promised that a certain individual would not be arrested by the FCID, even before the investigations had begun.

"We saw on TV the previous night how the IGP was bending the law again. This time he tells a minister over the phone that the FCID would not arrest a particular nilame. I would like to know whether the IGP was referring to the Basnayake Nilame of the Devinuwara Devale, Mahesh Gunasekera," MP Dissanayake queried.

The President, responding on behalf of the government, said, "I too watched that on TV. What the IGP did was completely wrong. I intend to summon and ask for an explanation on his statement."

Thereafter, MPs from the Opposition profusely thanked the President and thumped their desks in approval of the President's quick response.

Cop run over by private bus in Peraliya

A Sub Inspector attached to the Mitiyagoda Police Station had been run over by an inter-city private bus plying from Ambalangoda to Galle at Peraliya in Thelwatta yesterday evening. 

The police officer had visited the location based on a complaint that two persons who arrived on a motorbike had pelted stones at an SLTB bus transporting people from Tangalle to Colombo.

The injured officer had been admitted to the Balapitiya Hospital and the private bus driver had been arrested by the Police. Meanwhile, the driver of the SLTB bus had also been hospitalized due to injuries sustained when the bus was pelted with stones. The windscreen of the bus had been damaged and few other passengers had also sustained minor injuries.

Court lifts travel ban on Gotabaya

Colombo Chief Magistrate orders to lift the travel ban on Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and 7 others over the Avant Garde case, with conditions.

When the case filed against them, for unlawfully authorizing the establishing of a floating armoury, was taken up at court today the attorney representing the defendants caught court approval for them to travel overseas.

The magistrate approved the request, however stated that they should notify the registrar of the Colombo magistrates court and the bribery commission.

The Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had filed a case against Rajapaksa and the 7 others for causing a loss of Rs 11.4 billion to the state through the illegal establishment of a floating armory in the port of Galle.

Notice was issue on Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Additional Secretary of the State Ministry of Defence Damayanthi Jayaratne, Major General Palitha Fernando, Major General K.B. Egodawela, former Navy Commanders Admiral Somathilake Dissanayake, Admiral Jayanath Colombage, Admiral Jayantha Perera and Avant Garde Chairman retired Major General Nissanka Senadhipathi.

Mervyn Silva ordered to pay Rs. 4 lakhs compensation

The Supreme Court ordered former Deputy Minister of Highways and Road Development Mervyn Silva to pay Rs.400,000 personally as compensation to the Petitioner for the demolition and destruction of a parapet wall, two toilets and a wash room in Kiribathgoda that belonged to the Petitioner.

Justice Anil Gooneratne, with Justices Eva Wanasundera and K. T. Chitrasiri concurring, observed in his judgment that the law did not permit any kind of manipulation by the 7th Respondent Mervyn Silva to cause harm to citizens or interfere with their basic rights.

Justice Gooneratne also observed that a court of law cannot be immune to or ignorant of happenings around the country that affect human lives and cause tremendous loss or injury to persons, including the loss of property.

He further observed that if an illegal act or wrong was done to a citizen and he sought legal remedy, the court needed to engage itself in an all-inclusive inquiry to obtain circumstantial and direct evidence and try the case according to the law.

The fundamental rights jurisdiction vested in the Apex Court was wide enough to reach a genuine complaint of a citizen who had suffered as a result of executive or administrative action, he noted.

That was the reason the court, even in the past, permitted litigants to submit their grievances even by post or post cards, and permitted applications to be entertained beyond the period ordinarily permitted by basic law, he added.

The Supreme Court also ordered the then Chief Inspector of Police of Kiribathgoda and the State to pay Rs.50,000 and Rs.100,000 respectively to the Petitioner as compensation.

Court also directed the Inspector General of Police to conduct investigations and ascertain whether any other persons were responsible for the destruction of the petitioner’s property, and whether instruments and machinery belonging to the State had been utilised by them to cause the destruction, and to take appropriate action after consulting the Attorney General.

Petitioner Asitha Nanayakkara Liyanage cited Chairman Prasanna Ranaweera and Secretary Hemapala Hettiarachchi of the Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha, the Commissioner of Local Government (Gampaha), the then Chief Inspector of Police, Kiribathgoda, Mervyn Silva, the Attorney General and two others as Respondents.

Vishva Gunaratne, with Sandeepani Wijesooriya, appeared for the Petitioner. D. M. G.Dissanayake, with Ms L. M. C. D. Bandara, appeared for Mervyn Silva.

Petitioner complained against the Respondents for harassment and abuse of him and his family, which ultimately resulted in the demolition and destruction of part of the house in which he resided and which belonged to him. (S.S.Selvanayagam)